Friday, 6 November 2015

Anthropomorphic Research (pt 2 - Film)

In my last post I talked about the use of Anthropomorphism in video games, and in this post I'll be focusing more on the use of it in film (with TV to follow). I was going to combine Film & TV but looking back on this post there's already a bit too much, so I'll have to split them.

When I think about Anthropomorphism in film, I immediately think of Pixar. So many of their films contain characters in this area and so many of them are close to my heart. Just some of my favourites are as follows:

WALL-E - WALL-E(IconArchive, 2008)

This little guy stole my heart from the second I saw the first animated trailer that he was featured in. He's also conveniently a robot, so made of manmade materials - just like my current project! Hooray!

It's a huge goal of mine to be able to insert the amounts of personality that WALL-E has into my own characters, and he has been a source of inspiration for me for a long time.

Cars - Luigi & Guido

(Snipview, 2014)Though most people I've talked to about Cars didn't really like it, I actually enjoyed it a lot. I love the way that Pixar brought them to life by using the windshield as eyes and the various lights and bumper features as the rest of the face. Luigi and Guido in particular are my favourites simply because of how much personality they have. They make me smile. :D The Blue Umbrella(Youtube, 2013) Moving onto Pixar shorts here, but arguably the most relevant of the films listed so far is The Blue Umbrella. I could talk for ages about how amazing this is and I have already mentioned it in a previous blog post, but I wanted to talk about it again. The Blue Umbrella is packed with different characters made of buildings and pipes and all kinds of things that you see every day. I can't watch it without feeling completely inspired and it has been a big inspiration for what I look for when I'm looking for faces in the real world. Lava - Uku & Lele (cuteasafox, 2015) Then finally in the Pixar list is another short - Lava. I mean come on, it's about singing volcanoes who find each other and live happily ever after, what's not to love? I remember watching this in the cinema and being in awe at how clever the character designs are. This is the type of character design that I aspire to be able to make, and I'll continue to watch this short to help me get there. Even if the song does get stuck in my head for annoying periods of time...

Regular Disney are great for Anthropomorphic characters too. Here are some examples...Beauty & The Beast - Mrs Potts, Chip, Lumiere, etc... (SideKickDumpling, 2015)Beauty and the Beast is a classic for Anthropomorphic characters. It covers both animals (Beast), as well as inanimate objects like Mrs Potts, Chip, Lumiere, etc. These characters are all loveable and unique, showing that regardless of what they're made of, inanimate objects can be loveable if designed right. Alice in Wonderland - Curious Oysters, Card Soldiers, etc... (1Zoom, 2015)

Alice in Wonderland is a goldmine for Anthropomorphic characters. From the Curious Oysters and Flowers to the Card Soldiers, it's packed with characters. It's also great that the Tim Burton version is around too because we get to see the same characters but with a different twist.Aladdin - Magic Carpet (dettoldisney, 2011)

Then finally I'm going to mention Aladdin, simply because of how much character they managed to give to the Magic Carpet. He has no face and his only real 'limbs' are the tassled corners of his body, but he's easily one of my favourite Disney characters. I love how you can tell the emotions that he's feeling based on his posture - it really shows that facial features aren't necessarily required in character designs and that posture can contribute a lot.

About Me

Hello! I'm Steph and I'm studying my MA in Games Design at UCLan. I have a passion for creating characters which make people happy, and I want to make safe places and educational games for children (or adults if they wish!).